Too Short for the Team?
A personal story about Lily, the shortest girl in her class, who trained hard to get into the school basketball team.
Tap any word to hear it · dotted words have a definition in the glossary
🎧 Listen
1I have loved basketball since I was eight, but I am the shortest girl in my class. When the of the school team announced , my friend Omer said, "Don't , Lily. You're too short." I went anyway.
2For two weeks, I practiced every evening in the park near my building. I could not jump high, so I worked on other things: fast passes, with my left hand and shooting from far away. My older sister, Noa, played against me and never let me win.
3On the day of the , my hands were . But when the game started, I forgot about my . I passed the ball quickly, and I scored two three-point shots.
4The next day, the put a list on the wall. My name was on it. "You can't teach someone to be tall," the told me, "but you can teach someone to work hard. You already know how."
📘 Glossary
- coach - a person who trains a team
- tryouts - a test to join a team
- bother - to take the trouble to do something
- dribbling - bouncing the ball while moving
- shaking - moving quickly from side to side
- height - how tall someone is
Questions
Finding details
1. Why did Omer tell Lily not to go to the tryouts?Finding details
2. Where did Lily practice?Finding details
3. Lily could not jump high. Give TWO things she worked on instead.Making inferences
4. What can we learn about Noa from paragraph 2?Making inferences
5. "My hands were shaking" shows that Lily was…Reference words
6. In paragraph 4, the word "it" in "My name was on it" refers to…Main idea
7. What is the main message of the story?Word meaning
8. Copy the word from paragraph 1 that means "told everyone officially".
Answer every question to get a score (0/8)
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